574 THE DISEASES OF THE HORSE 



and the animal can be got at without too much risk, blood-letting is the 

 most likely thing to control the delirium, after which a bold dcse of aloes 

 may be given, but, as stated above, it is usually a sequel to some disease and 

 ends fatally. 



SUNSTROKE 



This disease is rare in England though not by any means unknown. The 

 condition is one of great prostration, and may be evinced by hanging the 

 head and blowing, or banging the head about and falling. When on the 

 ground the animal may struggle violently to get up again, and fail to do so, 

 as the hind-legs are paralj^zed. Those cases in Avhich the animal lies on his 

 side as if dead are the most likely to recover. 



Treatment. — An ice-bag to the poll and cold water affusions over the 

 body and subsequent friction to the body and legs. A powerful stimulant, 

 as half-a-pint of brandy or whisky, should be given as soon as possible. A 

 cool and shady situation is desirable, and if the patient cannot be moved 

 some sort of awning erected to keep off the direct rays of the sun. Horses 

 that have had one stroke are rendered more susceptible to the sun, and the 

 paralysis may to some extent remain after the severity of the attack has 

 passed away. 



RABIES OR MADNESS 



One reason only can be given for describing this disease, which is 

 wholly beyond the reach of art ; but as the horse attacked by it is most 

 dangerous, the sooner he is destroyed the better ; and for this reason, every 

 person who is likely to have any control over him should be aware of the 

 symptoms. Rabies is not idiopathically developed, l)ut must follow the 

 bite of a rabid animal. The dog, being constantly about our stables, is 

 the usual cause of the development of the disease, and it may supervene 

 upon the absoi'ption of the salivary vii'us without any malicious bite, as 

 has happened according to more than one carefully recorded case. The 

 lips of the horse are liable to be ulcerated from the action of the bit, and 

 there is reason to believe that in the early stages of rabies these parts have 

 been licked by a dog, the saliva has been absorbed, and the inoculation has 

 taken place just as it would do from any other wound. It is difficult to 

 prove that this is the true explanation of those cases where no bite has been 

 known to have occurred, but as the mouth has in each instance been shown 

 to have been abraded, there is some reason for accepting it as such. To 

 proceed however to the symptoms, Mr. Youatt, who had great opportunities 

 for examining rabies, both in the dog and horse, described the earliest 

 as consisting in " a spasmodic movement of the upper lip, particularly of the 

 angles of the lip. Close following on this, or contempoi'aneous with it, are 

 the depressed and anxious countenance, and inquiring gaze, suddenly, how- 

 ever, lighted up, and becoming fierce and menacing from some unknown 

 cause, or at the approach of a stranger. From time to time different parts 

 of the frame, the ej^es, tlie jaws, particular limbs, will be convulsed. The 

 eye will occasionally wander after some imaginary object, and the horse will 



